


Worthless Mission

by RainyMess



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: ??? maybe, Enemies to Friends, Enter the Florpus Spoilers, Friends to Lovers, If you guys want lmao, M/M, Other, Slow Burn, What-If, Zim drinks booze whoops
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-22
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-01 17:27:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20350840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainyMess/pseuds/RainyMess
Summary: What-if scenario where Dib never really gave Zim the idea to continue taking over the world with the help of the Membracelets. What Zim continues to do with his life on Earth and how Dib takes a part in that. Slowburn becoming friends and maybe even lovers if you guys would like.Feedback is nice! c:(New chapter every week! Hopefully..)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I had to rewrite this stupid fic about 2 times because I only seem to write when it's gone past 2am and reading back on what I made was just... horrible lmao. There's still mistakes and crappy writing here and there but you can't say I didn't try c:
> 
> Anyways!! 
> 
> Feel free to give me feedback about if you'd like more or whatever, thankuuu. As of writing this I've got about 2 chapters ready so ohoho be on the look out.
> 
> (Also I wrote Zim somewhat drunk in the first chapter because he seemed it in the movie and Jhonen wanted to make it clear on his Twitter that Zim can drink alcohol so... lmao.)

Out of all the reactions and scenarios he had expected Zim to portray upon seeing Dib back in shape and ready to continue their brawl, seeing the alien before him seemingly depressed and maybe even a little drunk never crossing his mind, not even a little bit. This was so out of the usual, and in all honestly Dib thought it was all an act at first, to maybe throw him off his intended route of trying to stop his evil plans and to save the world, but the more he listened to Zim whine and awkwardly slump on the couch and the floor, the more he realised that this really was no act.

Zim really showed no signs of struggle against anything that was happening. He was willing to put the handcuffs on, something that was practically impossible for Dib to do before. Zim was even willing to show why he was feeling this way in the first place, pulling up a hologram of the route that his leaders and the rest of his species was taking, again which was something that would never happen.

He was explaining what route they were taking, what planets were in front of them and how far away Earth was. While the hologram in front of them seemed very amazing, noticing how defeated Zim looked about the whole thing must be serious. Then he went on to saying that, despite being placed on this planet, his leaders weren’t coming. This was all for nothing.

At first, Dib felt victorious. He had finally stopped Zim, even if that meant not actually doing anything this time. He had finally saved the world from being destroyed, or even worse, being enslaved to the alien’s people for all eternity. All his hard work the past 2 years that Zim has been on this planet was finally being payed off for this exact moment, and for a second it felt great.

However, the more he continued to hear Zim whine made him realize how awkward the situation really was. Hearing him complain about the fact that he let not only his leaders but his entire race down, how he couldn’t have destroyed the planet quick enough. Dib just stood there, feeling weird about it. Thinking back, this was sort of a lame way to win; there was no struggle, no name calling. This victory felt more like it was just handed to him more than anything. It didn’t feel right.

As he continued to watch Zim whine and mutter more words of defeat to himself, an advert was being played on the alien’s television that Dib didn’t notice was playing at the time. It was, of course, being shown by his father’s company, showing off his newest project that he was excited to show the world. Peace day was soon and this was sure to change everything, or so he says. Despite that, he felt related to Zim in a way.

“You know,” Dib slowly began, looking at the bracelet his dad made him put on earlier that day. He didn’t necessarily want to make Zim feel better, but maybe doing so will make the situation a little less awkward than it already was.

“My dad doesn’t respect what I do either.”

The teen looked back towards the television, watching the colourful illustration of children holding hands joyfully. He looked back at the device, thinking for a moment, before continuing his small little rant.

“He thinks I’m crazy like the rest of the world,” with a swift movement, Dib ripped off the bracelet from his arm. “The world I just saved without anyone even knowing” Upon speaking once more, he angrily threw the device against the ground, watching it bounce and slowly roll it’s way towards Zim’s side, who was now boringly watching Dib as he talked.

Throughout the pause the then was taking from his rant, he continued to look back at the television to continue watching the rest of the advert, watching his dad’s trademark logo now across the screen as the voice over was finishing up his last line. Dib seemed to look annoyed. This wasn’t right. There must be a way he can show that he did in fact do something to help save the world, and his dad needed to know this as well.

As if upon a lightbulb moment, Dib smiled widely, letting out a small “wait a second!”. He paced around a few feet before extending out his arms towards Zim, who was still silently watching him. “If you really are just giving up, then maybe my dad can finally believe me when I show you to him!”

His voice sounded serious, yet excited. He was really thinking this over, muttering to himself and continued to pace, all the while Zim slowly watching the teen with a questionable look on his face.

“Maybe then my dad would believe me! He has too! Without your disguise I don’t see how it wouldn’t work!” He stopped moving and smiled widely at the other, his hands now into small fists of excitement. “Then he could broadcast it to the whole world! I’ll finally get the recognition I deserve!”

The more he continued to speak, the louder he seemed to get. In return, this caused Zim to grunt and squint his eyes a little at the other, clearly not really caring and it was obvious it showed. However, Dib wasn’t taking a no at this point. His mind went wild, thoughts of being praised by not only his father but the whole world flooded his vision. Even Gir was contributing to the human’s fantasy by throwing all the nachos he could find beside him on the couch and quietly cheering.

A few moments later Dib finally snapped out of his fantasy and turned towards Zim again, this time with a more determined smile on his face.

“Uh, if it makes you feel any better,” he slowly began. “You can plan out and perform your grand entrance when I show you off.” Even if Zim showed no signs of struggle whatsoever today, that didn’t mean he’d just let Dib do what he wanted. Maybe saying something like this might help, he thought.

Zim showed no signs of finding comfort in his words, however Dib watched as the alien raised his leg up, in which Dib gladly took into his hand.

“Fine I don’t care.”

Zim’s voice sounded bored and defeated, but it was good enough for Dib at this point. The human nodded and smiled, gently shaking the alien’s leg up and down, as if agreeing to a deal between the two. He decided that it was best to make Zim have the handcuffs still on him, just in case he ever decided to do anything fishy, despite how he may act right now. Not only that, but it’ll look good when he does show off Zim towards his dad. It’ll seem as though he really did capture the alien on his own accord.

Step one of Dib’s plan was to present Zim without his disguise, which was already easy for them, considering how Zim was out in the open about his appearance when Dib first arrived. Step two was to get Zim to the Membrane household, which will be a little trickier; Zim showed no sign of moving much, and that includes sitting up, standing nor walking. Dib tried his best to get the alien to at least sit up properly but Zim only grunted loudly in return. It seemed that Dib is resulted to having to drag him all the way to their destination.

And with that, their journey began. With Zim’s leg in his hands and finally being able to drag him out of that mess of a house, they were down the street in no time. He was grateful that Zim was so light, making this much easier for him to drag the alien down the street and many alleyways they had to take. Dib originally thought this was going to be much more difficult, and in the past thought capturing Zim was going to probably cost him his life, but here they were.

Despite saying how light Zim seemed to be, Dib had to stop every now and then. No matter how light, dragging someone by their leg across a few clocks was tiring work. Zim’s attitude never seemed to change throughout the journey; groaning and whining about how much of a failure he was. Most of the time he was quiet, however every now and then he’d loudly cry out his worried and all sorts of nonsense. He really has just lost his mind.

Eventually they had reached their destination; the Membrane household. When Dib had left earlier the scientist was outside testing his bracelet on a group of children, now he seems to be most likely inside. The children from before were still hovering above them as he walked towards the door, meaning it hasn’t been that long. Perfect, Dib thought. Now was his chance.

After some struggling with trying to not only get the door open but also making sure Zim wouldn’t roll down any of the steps leading to the door in the first place, Dib finally managed to get the both of them into the house in one piece, despite Zim’s complain about getting his head bumped against the door frame while entering.

“Dad! Dad, I need to show you something! Where are you?”

Dib continued to call out for his dad before reaching the kitchen, his eyes finally resting on his dad. He seemed to be working on small minor improvements on the bracelet he was advertising earlier. At first the scientist didn’t look up, but seeing Dib dragging in something at the corner of his eyes finally caught his attention.

“Hello, son! How was your day out today?”

“Yeah it was great—look dad I finally caught that alien I’ve been talking about!” Dib happily explained, quickly letting go of Zim’s leg to stretch out his arms towards the alien’s direction, as if proud to present the being before him.

Professor Membrane paused his work, placing whatever he had in his hands at the time onto the kitchen table before him. He stood up eventually and towered over the two, scratching the side of his head as he watched Zim. The Irken showed no signs of protest, only an annoyed look on his face as he squinted up at the taller human.

“Fascinating, son…” Membrane spoke, doing small circles around Zim. Dib smiled widly, his hands into small fists in front of himself in delight. Did he do it? Had he really done this? He couldn’t believe it, this had to be a dream—

“This costume is very impressive! You little green friend is doing an amazing job, I’m glad you both are having some fun.”

x

Upon hearing this, Dib’s smile and excitement slowly decreased, now just looking up at his dad with confusion and slight disappointment. It couldn’t possibly be true. Was he really that stupid? The evidence was right in front of him and he’s taking it as child’s play?

“Cos… costume? Are you serious, dad?!” Dib sprinted back towards Zim’s side, who only groaned in response to everything that was happening around him. “This is no costume! It really is real! Why can’t you see that?!”

Before anyone could say anything more, Dib grabbed a hold of Zim’s antennas, making the Irken lift his head up in surprise. The human tugged at them, trying to prove a point. Professor Membrane looked a little concerned for the Irken, a gloved hand scratching at the side of his own head as he watched.

“See? They’re real! They won’t budge!” Dib shouted, ignoring the fact that Zim was now uncomfortably screaming at the other. At this point it seemed Zim had enough, thrashing his around for a moment before Dib eventually let go of the antennas. The Irken growled loudly, now sitting up and eyes narrows at the other.

“That hurt, you worthless worm!” Zim yelled at the other, moving around so he was sitting on his knees now. “When was grabbing Zim’s luscious antennas part of the stupid human plan?!”

Dib narrows his eyes in return, clearly annoyed with the both of them. Before Dib could reply, Professor Membrane walked up to Zim and gently placed a hand on top of the alien’s head, giving it a gentle pat. At first Zim’s first instinct was to flinch, clearly confused, but soon just assumed this was better than someone tugging at his sensitive antennas. He felt like this wasn’t causing him any real harm.

“Now son,” the older human started talking. “No need to play rough with your little friend. The glue keeping these things in place must be hurting the child.” He soon removed his hand from Zim, now gesturing a finger towards the stairs. “Go clean up your friend before this gets too far. And remove those handcuffs from him, that’s a little too much, isn’t it?”

Dib was starting to protest, only being able to call out for his dad before Membrane turned his head to give Dib a serious look, which caused the human child to close his mouth for a moment. Eventually he let out a small “fine” as he grabbed hold of Zim’s leg again. The sudden tug caused Zim to fall back down against the floor, soon yelling after Dib to let him walk on his own. The yelling of words soon turned to pain as Dib dragged the alien up the stairs, causing Zim to bang his head after every step. He couldn’t believe this; his dad seriously took this as a joke. How could his own dad not see the proof in front of him. A real alien. All his efforts had gone to waste.

They soon reached Dib’s bedroom, now a lot cleaner than a few days ago. Upon reaching the middle of the room, the teen let go of the Irken’s leg and slowly climbed onto his own bed, simply laying face down against it. A harsh sigh could be hurt underneath the boy.

At first Dib was drowning out any and all sounds he possibly could, that was until he noticed that there was a sudden shift beside him on his bed, getting him out of his trance for a moment. He shifted a little, turning his head to the side to see what was up. He watched as Zim lazily climbed onto the bed as well, struggling just a little before making it and somewhat aggressively slamming his body hard against the bed, his face buried in the blanket under him. The Irken was quietly grumbling about something, his sounds being blocked out by most of the bedding.

Dig had noticed that Zim was still in the handcuffs and just laying on them uncomfortably, so not long did Dib sigh and pull out the remote for the device, soon pressing a button and letting the handcuffs come undone with a clank. A part of him half expected Zim to get up and run off as soon as he was free, but instead watched as the Irken didn’t even do anything, arms still underneath himself.

Now it was Dib’s turn to start feeling depressed. Now that Zim had given up with his mission and life in general, so to speak, there’s more likely never going to be anything new or exciting to look forward to; defeating Zim’s plans was always something to feel proud of and eventually saving the world was a long term feeling of satisfaction. Now that’s gone, there’s nothing.

Not only that but his dad doesn’t seem to believe him, no matter what he seems to come up with. He can now see that every little bit of evidence he could possible show his dad would probably be de-bunked somehow, and Dib can tell that will never change. If he can’t even convince his dad how can he be expected to convince the whole world along the way?

This was all.. meaningless, in a way. Very unsatisfying and awkward to say the least.

The both of them continued to lay there in silence for what seemed like a very long time. Everyu now and then Dib would turn his head a little to either look at Zim, who seemed to be talking nonsense to himself through the muffling of the blanket beneath him, or to the wall behind the Irken. There was nothing either of them could really say or do. They both felt worthless in their own situations.

Eventually Zim shifted his entire body and rolled over, now on his back with a loud and long groan. With his hands now free they were clawing at his own face as he groaned. At this point, Dib was tired of hearing the other complain, even if no words were being spoken all that much, so he looked at the other with an irritated look.

“Will you stop already? You’re getting on my nerves.” Dib muttered.

Zim’s arms feel back beside him, and without looking at the other, replied in a low and wavy voice.

“Make me, pathetic worm.”

At this point Dib had raised an arm and slammed it down against Zim, as if imitating a punch, however his action was so uncaring the movement hardly had an impact. In return, Zim had raised a leg ever so slightly to kick Dib, however contained the same amount of effort. The both of the continued to do this as they spoke to one another.

“You’re green and ugly.”

“You’re a stink beast.”

“You’re a dumby dumb.”

“You’re pig dooky.”

“You’re stupid.”

“You’re stupider than I am.”

At this point Dib groaned to himself, knowing this conversation isn’t going anywhere. Without hesitation his weak punch soon turned into a harder on, his voice more irritated than before. “At least my species didn’t just get rid of me and left me to rot on another planet.”

The Irken hesitated for a moment at hearing this, then harshly kicked Dib, resulting in the teen to sharply inhale unexpectedly and rolled around onto the other side of the bed. He began clutching his stomach. Maybe the comment was a bit harsh but he hasn’t had expected that hard of a blow. Hearing Zim shift on the bed and sitting up made Dib flinch a little, expecting another blow. When he received none however, he slowly turned his body back in Zim’s direction.

For the past 2 hours he’s heard nothing but whines and fake cries but never actually any tears, until right now. He looked pissed, of course, but there was still tears forming around his eyes as he stared at Dib. He had a fist ready but he was shaking a little, clearly unsure what to do.

“At least the Tallest’s trusted me..!” His voice broke a little, somewhat crawling up to Dib with a first hovering up high still. However, Dib didn’t move, only watched Zim as he spoke and moved. He could tell this was really breaking him apart but was still trying to make himself feel better about it. But Dib couldn’t help but see the obvious.

“… Did they though?” Dib replied as he sat up a little, a hand still resting against the spot Zim had kicked earlier.

The Irken was frozen once again, his first was now shaking some more despite how hard he clearly tried not to. His angry frown now waving as his eyes continued to narrow into the other. And then, to Dib’s surprise, his expression turned into something more pained. A moment later, Zim’s fist was no longer threatening to hit the human, instead grabbing at the front of Dib’s shirt as Zim’s fae soon buried against it, surprising the both of them. The room filled with muffled cries, in return making Dib feel very uncomfortable again.

What was he supposed to do? Say sorry? He really wasn’t. Maybe pat the other’s back? Zim would probably kill him. This was so awkward, today has been nothing but a mess for the both of them, it seemed.

“Aw geez, come on, man…”

All Dib did for a moment was stay still, then shifted his body a bit so he was sitting up some more. This resulted in Zim burying himself against the other more. Of course Dib had always imagined Zim crying and giving up, but never because of a situation like this.

After a little while and seeing as Zim wasn’t stopping any time soon, the teen hesitatingly placed a hand on the others lower back and gently patted. This was outside of both of their comfort zones, however Zim didn’t seem care. Either it being because of how upset he felt or even by the fact he seemed to be under the influence of something.

The cries soon died out but Zim was still up against Dib, just resting against him with his antennas low against his own head. He was starting to mutter to himself again, mostly about how worthless this whole ‘mission’ was. When Dib didn’t respond, the Irken pulled away from the other to look up at him with an annoyed look on his face.

“Give me the sour juice, Dib-thing.”

Dib raised an eyebrow at the other, clearly confused. He had no idea what Zim was talking about at first, but it clearly hit him when he thought it about it in the context that the alien would want it in. Was he talking about booze? It was a possibility. Zim was starting to look inpatient.

“We don’t have any, Zim.” Dib responded with a small shrug. “Even if we did, I doubt my dad would just have it laying around.”

This caused Zim to loudly groan and flop back against the bed hard, his eyes tearing up again in frustration. He slowly began clawing at his face again with one hand, the other gripping his own shirt and his legs soon starting kicking into the air as he made angry noises to himself.

“Why must the universe do this to Zim?!” He loudly announced, both hands now resting against either side of his head and he turned onto his side, curling into a small ball. All Dib could do for the time being was watch Zim with a confused look on his face for a while. He then eventually got up and off his own bed, seeming to find something. The Irken didn’t care what was going on around him, so Dib took this chance to find something useful for the time being.

He reached for a gray hoodie that was laying around on the floor, it may have been a little dirty, but Dib really didn’t care. Then he slowly walked back up to the bed, the cloth in hand.

“Zim, listen to me,” he muttered as his arm stretched a little towards the alien before him. Hearing his name, Zim turned a little so he was facing the human, his attitude not changing, however. “My dad is extremely stupid, but that doesn’t mean he’s not caring. Sort of.” Dib awkwardly rubbed the back of his head.

“I know my dad is just… weirdly looking out for me. And you, apparently, since he thinks you’re my friend.” There was a small silence for a moment, the both of them shuddering at the mere thought of it becoming a reality. “But put this on.” Dib gestured to the hoodie in his arm. “At least play along and say it’s a fake, ‘cause I don’t want to be yelled at again today.”

Zim narrowed his eyes at the other, clearly thinking for a moment. He then turned his body, so he was facing away from Dib, with a low sigh and a grumble.

“I’m not putting that disgusting filth against my body for your own satisfaction.”

“Oh come on Zim—”

“Nooooope.”

Dib angrily sighed, dragging his free hand against his face. He was mentally exhausted, but so was Zim. There had to be a way for Zim to agree to this, there was no way he was going back downstairs with Zim still looking like he is. His dad wasn’t going to believe him so he might as well give up. There must be something Zim wants in return for this massive headache of a situation.

“… I’ll see if my dad has a liquor cabinet for you.”

“Yeah okay.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the kind comments you have been leaving me! It really means a lot that you are interested in my 3am shitty fanfics lmao.
> 
> This chapter was supposed to be posted right after the first one but I lost it :)))) so I had to rewrite it lmao.. 
> 
> again, because the fics are written so late, I have no motivation to checkread these so I'm sorry if it's baaaaad

It wasn’t long before it was dinner time in the Membrane household. It all seemed to be quiet for the most part leading up to this moment, before the head of the house called down to his children to come down for dinner. Food was already set on the table by the time Gaz came down to sit with her dad. Shortly following the girl, Dib and Zim soon joined, both seeming as depressed as ever.

It seemed Zim had finally agreed to put on the hoodie Dib instructed him in doing; it was a gray baggy hoodie with no patterns or designs on it. It was very boring. The hood was up as to hide Zim’s antennas, simply hoping to fool Professor Membrane into thinking he had none. The one thing they couldn’t seem to hide was his eyes; they tried using sunglasses but Zim couldn’t seem to see while inside, simply falling over and yelling whenever he bumped into something. Hopefully no one notices but that’s a low possibility of happening.

The two walked into the kitchen, one slowly behind the other. Professor Membrane happily greeted them as Dib slowly sat on one of the seats and Zim just standing there, unsure of what to do.

“I was hoping your friend would join us for dinner, so I prepared something for him as well!” He happily explained, gesturing to a seat down next to Dib. The teen grunted a little and so did Zim, but he managed to sit down as well.

“But there’s only 3 plates on the table.” Dib noticed and shouted, looking at his father with a slightly confused look on his face. “Are you not joining us? Again?”

Professor Membrane seemed to have answered Dib’s question by hurrying around the kitchen and stuffing a few things into a briefcase. Then he paused and looked at his children. “The grand presentation for my wonderful Membracelet is tonight, kids!” He started explaining, grabbing a plate of food that was on the side counter and stuffing that inside of his briefcase as well. “I need to be there early to make sure everything is where it should be.”

“Oh right, that’s tonight, huh?” Gaz muttered, holding a fork over her food. “Didn’t you invite us to go?”

“Of course, daughter! My co-worker is coming to pick you up once it’s all ready.”

The older human turned towards Zim for a moment, starting to talk again but then stopped himself once he noticed a couple of things about his appearance.

“Weren’t you able to get completely out of that costume?”

Dib’s grip around his fork tightened for a moment at hearing this, causing it to practically bend as he angrily exhaled to himself. There was no point in trying to argue back, saying it’s not a costume or what have you. It was just easier to agree with whatever theory he had in mind about the whole thing. Zim only simply replied with a simple ‘meh’, clearly not interested in conversation, so Dib had to butt in.

“We couldn’t get his… ‘contacts’ out.”

“Ohhh I see.” Membrane rubbed a little under where his chin was, in thought. He seemed to want to say something but as he raised his arm to show a gesture, he noticed the watch on his wrist and internally panicked a little. “Oh it seems I’m a little late!”

Before anyone could say anything else, the older human was out the house in a rush, shouting a small “see you soon, kids!” and then that was it. He was gone. It was now only the kids, and the alien, left in the house, as usual in this household.

Dib let out a disappointed sigh as he watched his father leave the house. He then suddenly jumped in his spot when he heard a shatter and turned towards Zim. It seemed the alien had pushed the entire plate of food off of the table, causing it to crash against the hard floor. Of course, Zim didn’t necessarily eat human food, it wasn’t in his nature to be able to consume it. Dib almost jumped in his spot once more when another loud thud was heard, this time the sound of Zim slamming his head against the table with a loud groan.

“Why is Zim here? And why is he like this?” Gaz simply asked, raising an eyebrow as she leaned in her seat a little to look more closely at Zim and his actions. Dib simply shook his head in response for a moment, watching the Irken as well.

“He just found out his mission was basically a lie, I think,” Dib slowly began explaining, now looking at Gaz with a small shrug. “He’s given up so I thought showing dad what Zim really was without his disguise would prove that I was right. Didn’t work out as I hoped--”

“Where is the sour juice!?” Zim rudely interrupted, slamming his hands against the table and lifting himself up to stare deep into Dib. A few “uhm” escaped Dib’s lips, before awkwardly smiling and shrugging. Zim’s eyes dug straight into Dib’s soul, before jumping out of his seat and slowly walked out of the kitchen without a word. A moment later the front door could be heard, slamming open and then shutting close immediately afterwards.

It seemed Zim was heading home, and while Dib was relieved, the day just couldn’t get any weirder.

* * *

The rest of the day had gone on normally; or to say the least, as normal as it could have gotten. The presentation that Professor Membrane was holding for his new work of genius went as well as you’d think. People were lining up for the Membracelet before it was even released the next day. It was all anyone was talking about for the rest of the night, and of course it continued on until they all received what they were promised.

The next day was Earth Day and it was being broadcasted all over the world. People were excited to see Professor Membrane’s invention come to life; with enough children holding hands, it could be used as a great source of power that they could use to keep the planet live for as long as they wanted. And it worked, to no ones surprise. Everyone was praising the Membrane family for coming up with something so wonderful for all of earth kind.

For Dib, however, nothing felt right. By now, he could tell, that something terrible was going to happen, and when that never happened, he felt even more paranoid. He had to keep reminding himself that Zim really was out of commission for now, but he couldn’t help but think it was still all an act somehow. He continued to think this way all of Earth Day, and the day after that. As days went on and Dib continued to live his life, no Zim was in sight.

As Dib went to school, normally Zim would be there to bug him about a new plan he had, anything. But when Zim didn’t show up, things were getting desperate. Dib hated waiting for an answer, so he made it his mission to go out of his way and confront Zim about what he’s been up to. Deep down he really knew that there was nothing going on whatsoever, but he needed to be sure. In order to protect the Earth, he needed to know for sure that everything was as good as it could possible be, even if that meant talking with the enemy and learning all his secretes.

At the end of the school day, Dib made his way to the street that Zim ‘lived’ on, ready to ask any questions he felt like. The teen tried his hardest to find other things to do; look through bigfeet’s social media accounts to find his whereabouts, going ghost hunting or even trying to repair Tak’s flying ship that he still kept in his backyard. But he just couldn’t. Something was tearing at him and he needed to know why.

Reaching the purple house, he eyes the gnomes that were watching him in return, before knocking on the door. No reply. He knocked again and waited. Eventually the door handle jiggled and was met with tired bug like eyes peaking at him from the half open door. Without his disguise? He really must be done.

“Dib-stink? What do you want?” The Irken’s voice came out low yet annoyed, slowly opening the door some more. Dib was slightly taken back by what the Irken was wearing; of course he wasn’t wearing his disguise but the clothing on Zim was much different from his usual outfit. He seemed to be just wearing a normal t-shirt with a long-sleeved shirt underneath it. He also seemed to be wrapped around a baggy hoodie. Dib’s hoodie from the other day.

There was no response from the teen as he continued to look at Zim’s wear, utterly confused. He only broke out of it when he felt something hard hit his body and looked up, finding Zim’s fist had just made contact with his chest.

“Eh?! Huh?! What is it!” Zim yelled out before looking down at himself for a moment, then scoffed. “Is it the human attire? Does the human not like?” His smirk changed into a frown, a hand scratching at his chin for a moment. “I could have sworn this was what normal human children wear, am I wrong..?”

It wasn’t that big of a deal, Dib thought. He shook his head to regain himself, standing up straight and looking right at Zim.

“I was just wondering why you weren’t in school the past few days.” He started, taking a step closer. In return Zim took a step back, looking somewhat confused. “Are you up to something shady? Any plans?”

As he continued to talk he took steps forward, causing Zim to continue taking steps backwards. Eventually the both of them were inside of the ‘house’ and the door closed behind Dib as he looked around the place.

It seemed much tidier than the last time he stepped foot in the place, apart from some trash still around the place and heaps of pizzas sprayed on the couch. Gir seemed to be near by in his dog uniform, making snow angels into the pizzas below him while laughing to himself. Nothing out of place than usual, Dib thought.

“Of course not.” Zim soon said, gesturing to the television not that far away. A commercial was playing now, advertising more pizza. “My ‘plans’ consist of sitting, crying and watching some television.”

Gir sat up from his spot and looked at Dib with a huge smile on his face. “Master watched the big tv with me now! He enjoys hotdog man!”

Upon hearing this Zim shook his head and looked at Dib seriously, an eye somewhat squinting. “Hotdog man scares me; it’s seriously messed up.”

Dib shook his head in return, in somewhat denial. There was no way that Zim was just giving up this easily, there had to be a plan he was working on to maybe get back at the humans or his leaders, right? He couldn’t just be sitting here doing nothing with his day, right?

Looking around the place there was no real signs of anything exciting happening, however. No new devices or anything. But then again, it could be a floor below them without Dib even knowing… he can’t just fall for this act!

“Seriously Zim, what have you been up to?” The human muttered, now annoyingly raising an eyebrow at the other.

Zim just simply shrugged.

“There’s no point in going back to school, smelly,” He simply stated, taking a seat on the ground, his back resting against the couch as Gir continued to slop away at the greasy food around him. “everything I’ve been trained up for has been for nothing.” Upon saying this, Zim’s antennas lowered slightly, then looked towards Dib’s direction.

“I was in denial for a long time and I’m just now accepting it, so leave me alone to be in my depressive episode.” Waving a hand at Dib, Zim’s attention was back towards the television, seeming more bored than anything.

All Dib could do was shake his head. He may be the one in denial this time, but he knew something had to be up. He fell to his knees in front of Zim and grabbed the other arms, squeezing gently at them. A small ‘hey’ left Zim’s face as he tried to turn his head back towards the television that Dib was blocking, but Dib’s grip and stern look was more than enough to drag his attention away from it.

Now that Dib was somewhat close to Zim, he could really tell how much of a toll this was taking on him; dark and boring eyes, his antennas seemed to be a mess and he wasn’t yelling as much as he seemed to usually be doing. He must really be serious about this…

“I don’t trust you, Zim,” Dib slowly started saying, and as he sighed, he let go of the Irken’s arms, however still stayed kneed down in front of the other. “But you do seem serious enough to convince me even a little bit.”

“Of course I do.” The Irken proudly said with a small smirk, then lifted a leg to push Dib away from him. The teen nodded a little and rolled his eyes, and took the opportunity to sit down beside Zim on the floor, now looking towards the direction of the television as well.

“So are you seriously not coming back into school?”

“Why would I?” Zim pointed out, resting his head against the couch, looking up. “There’s not really a point anymore. Besides, my disguise is so itchy!” Even just thinking about wearing such a gross wig against the invader’s head made Zim scratch the side of his scalp, grunting. Dib hummed. “Why? Would the Dib miss Zim?” He continued with a smirk on his face as he moved his head a little to the side, looking at Dib.

In return Dib rolled his eyes and looked at the other.

“Of course not. Though I will admit, it’s been a little boring not hearing you around the school.”

“Of course!! I’m the light of the school party, ha!”

“Hm..” Dib shook his head and sighed, looking back at the television. “Have you ever thought about getting a disguise similar to Tak’s?”

“Oh please, Dib human, her methods were more modern and advanced than what the Tallest’s had given me at the time. There’s no way for me to get a grasp of that sort of technology now.” There was a small silence from them both for a short while, before Zim looked oddly confused at the sudden question. “Why do you ask? Heh?!”

Dib sat there for a moment, thinking. Why did he ask such a question? It could possibly be because the other was complaining about his other disguise being so itchy, but why would he care about what Zim felt or not about the matter? He really couldn’t care less. Then why else would he ask? He continued to think for a moment before looking back at Zim’s direction again.

“Because you have no where else to go, don’t you?” He simply asked, and then continued shortly after when Zim went to open his mouth but no words could muster out. “Which means you’ll be staying here. On Earth. Your last disguise was just a temporary one, I take it. Wouldn’t you want something more permanent?”

The silence soon returned between the two, other than the loud chomping sounds coming from the unit behind them. Zim was clearly thinking about this over and through, trying to say something in return. It was true; Zim really had no where else to go that he could really call a home anymore. Everything he’s been told was a lie, so what was he supposed to do on this worthless planet when he had no more plans for it? What should he do and how will he do it?

Thinking about it, he never really got close to anyone on Earth, other than the Membrane family, which for the past 2 years were known as his enemies. So what now, when his plans totally flip upside down?

A small hum left the alien’s mouth, blinking slowly up at the ceiling, lost in thought. He then turned his head in the direction that Dib was sitting in, and the human raised an eyebrow at him in return, waiting patiently for a response of some sort.

The silence soon broke, as Zim gave the other a small smirk.

“It seems that you’ll be dealing with me a little bit longer now, Dib-human,” The Irken muttered. “You can’t get rid of me now! The great Zim!” He jumped up from his spot, trying to pose, but the lack of energy just caused him to fall back down on his side, resulting in a painful moan.

Dib watched and shook his head as he saw him fall, then a heavy sigh left his mouth, unaware of the slight smile he had across his face.

“I suppose that’s true, huh? Does that mean you’re staying on Earth?”

Slowly, Zim sat up to face Dib again, before nodding his head a little. “What’s that saying you humans say so miserably? If you can’t fight and take over the world from under their feet, join them in their hopeless lives?”

“That’s not at all what we say but I’ll take it.”

So it was settled; Zim was to stay on Earth. Now it was a matter of how they were going to continue this act, and what will happen between the two as time would pass. Dib didn’t know right now, but he knew it was going to take a lot of time, and a lot of work, for both him and the alien infront of him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said this would be updated weekly, and I know this update is almost.. a month late ASDFGHJK but whatever. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter. As of next chapter I'll be adding little doodles I've made along with the chapter towards the end, as well as my ko-fi donation link since.. it would be nice lmao. My drawing tablet is broken so I wanna get that fixed and it'll give me more determination to continue these chapters! You don't have to donate, of course, but it'll be nice ;;v;;
> 
> I'm also hoping to make these chapters longer in the future so... yeah!

It was a quiet Saturday afternoon the next time Dib saw Zim again; after their little talk the day before, it was decided that the Irken was to try and pick himself up again and to find a new and improved disguise. If he was to stay on this planet, he needed to blend in better. Not that he really needed to in the first place however, considering most of the humans that saw Zim in his usual disguise just thought he was one of them anyways. Zim does recall, however, coming across humans who appeared to be smarter than they let on, easily able to see past his disguise. So that had to change and fast.

That night, Dib tried his best to try and gather as much information from Tak’s ship as much as possible, obtaining any and all technology he could gather. It was hard though, considering how Tak’s ship hated Zim with a passion, so trying to play it off as something Dib was trying to obtain for himself went a little smoother. Eventually, it worked, and he gathered what he could about how to obtain the ability to possess such a great disguise.

Dib got stopped a few times from Gaz, who was very curious about what kind of crazy plan her brother was forming this time around. At first, Dib didn’t give too much away, but eventually he told her everything she really needed to know; there was no real reason to keep this a secret from her anyways, he would find out on her own in due time otherwise. However, this only raised several questions that Dib couldn’t really answer himself.

One being; why? Why was he doing such a task in the first place, especially for someone like Zim? It was hard to answer, considering how he didn’t know the answer himself all that much. The thought process he had in mind was that if Zim just gave up, Dib would have nothing to look forward to; no fights or arguments, no trying to stop each other from achieving their plans or even worse. He enjoyed this with the other. Without Zim trying his best, it wasn’t worth it.

His thought about the whole situation was to get Zim back on his feet, even if that meant helping him blend in with the rest of the world. They’d play if off like he really was a human all along, and hopefully Zim would find other evil things to do while on Earth, resulting in Dib fouling his plans. At least this way, Zim had no real reason to destroy the Earth anymore, and seeing as how he had no where else to go, why stop the banter?

It was clear they needed each other in a weird and insulting sort of way, despite how sick it made Dib feel to admit it out loud.

After answering whatever he could to his sister, who soon lost interest after hearing Dib talk for more than 10 seconds at a time, it was time to end his conversation with the Irken space craft and to call it a night. Dib gathered whatever information and pieces of scraps he possibly could, it was now up to Zim to make said device. Heading to bed, Dib slept well that night.

Now that he was back in Zim’s house, presenting whatever information he had gathered the night before, it made Dib realise how amazing Zim really was with creating something from scratch. The alien took poorly written notes and was clearly hard at work, having no troubles at all reading and translating whatever he needed for this invention of his. Of course, he wouldn’t let Dib come down to his personal lab, but whenever Zim resurfaced to ask for help (meaning yelling at Dib to give him better notes), the teen could clearly see how well the project was going.

It took several hours, of course, considering how Zim still wasn’t his full self yet, and making a whole invention from scratch wasn’t just going to be easy to make in the first place. So in the meantime, Dib sat around in the living room area as Gir kept him company. Their conversations were short, as Gir was mostly talking nonsense and the teen had no real way of answering back without being in risk of having something food related thrown right at him.

Eventually Dib awoke from a short nap upon hearing a loud laughter, jumping up from his spot on the couch to look towards the kitchen area. There stood Zim, standing proud with a small device in his hands raised above his head, trying his best to show off his amazing work.

“I’VE DONE IT, DIIIIIIIIB! THE AMAZING ZIIIIM HAS COMPLETED THIS TASK!”

As Dib jumped off from the couch, Zim came running towards him, still holding the device high and proud. The teen had a small smile on his face, while the alien had an even bigger smile. Gir seemed to have joined in by clapping loudly and shouting as loud as he could muster.

“YAAAAAAAAAY!”

When the robot calmed down, that’s when the two decided to talk once again.

“That’s pretty amazing, Zim.” The teen praised as he tried to look more closely at the device in Zim’s hands, his arms now lowering for them both to look closely. The device that Zim had worked hours on that day was finally complete and in all it’s glory; it was small enough and made to resemble a wrist watch, however closer inspection could show that it was no ordinary wrist watch.

“Yes yes, of COURSE it’s amazing, human!” Zim replied with a loud voice. “Only I am able to create such an amazing Irken technology!”

“So how does it work?”

The alien opened his mouth about to speak, but then quickly closed his mouth into an awkward smile, swallowing his own words. Nothing was said for a while, before a small “I dunno” left the Irken’s mouth, deflating Dib a little from his excitement before.

Before Dib could even think about opening his mouth to ask if they should try it out, Zim aggressively placed a hand on Dib’s face and pushed him away, yelling “SHUT UP I’LL FIGURE IT OUT!”. He removed his hand from the human’s face and put the watch on his own wrist, ignoring the muttering teen say “but I didn’t even say anything…”.

It took a while for the Irken to correctly put the watch on himself, and a little longer to figure out how to even turn it on in the first place. After a few mutters and groans, it clicked into place and Zim’s entire body seemed to have distorted on itself, shifting into many different types of human bodies. Dib watched in awe as Zim shifted through the many different options he was given, ranging from all ages to all heights. The device worked, which was amazing for Dib to discover.

A couple of times Zim had shifted more towards a disguise that was tall but disliked everything else about it, and eventually landed on one that made Dib want to double take for a moment. It was similar to Zim’s past disguise, in all honesty, however more realistic to a human’s appearance; the hair was similar yet more natural, his skin was more of a humans and the fact he had a nose and ears clearly made the disguise whole. His appearance was as if he was never an alien to begin with, and Dib found it amazing. The thing that caught the teen’s attention the most was the eyes he possessed; they were a nice shade of green and really brought the entire disguise to life.

Another thing that surprised Dib the most was how Zim’s previous design was perfect to how he would really look as a human, apart from slightly messier hair and different contact colours, but it impressed him even more knowing that it was probably not even intentional.

Zim hummed in approval loudly to himself as he looked down at his appearance, before receiving a handheld mirror from his trusty robot, seeming to have watched the entire thing unfold. A pleasing “ohhhh!” sound left the now human’s lips, clearly pleased. A hand touched his cheek, then quickly looked at his hand with a small yelp.

“Zim has more fingers now! Impressive!”

He stretched out all his fingers and looked intensely at his own hand for a moment, before realising that Dib has done nothing but stare at him this entire time. He began to stretch out his arms in victory, giving Dib a huge smirk.

“Behold, Dib human! I have successfully produced a new and improved disguise for YOURS TRUELYYYY!”

As much as he hated to admit, this new disguise was truly something to be proud of and was certainly impressive. It really made Zim look like he was always a human and this disguise can easily make people believe that for many years to come. This was amazing and Dib was impressed that the both of them managed to pull this off together.

“Zim, this really is amazing,” Dib muttered out as he walked around the other being in front of him, trying to get a better look. “who knew this would actually work out this well?” He stopped once he was back in front of Zim, now watching Gir, who seemed to be worrying and running off to find where his master had gone. Zim’s proud stance never seemed to change.

“Of course it went well, I made it!” He shouted with a loud laugh at the end, hands on his hips. The both of them knew that it is going to take a little while for them to get used to this new version of Zim, and they’re both hoping it’s not going to take long to getting used to.

To Dib, Zim will always be the alien, the imposter from out of space, and that will never change. He may change in appearance and maybe even personality, but he will always be Zim, and Dib will be ready to counter him whenever needed. And Dib will always be Dib; the supernatural loving genius. Well that’s how he views himself, anyways. No matter what, Zim will always be Zim. That’s a fact the both of them need to remember.

Getting back to the situation at hand, Dib’s feet stopped wondering and stood back in front of the now different Zim, a hand on his own chin in thought for a moment. This seemed to have caught Zim’s attention for a moment, now raising an eyebrow at the other in confusion and curiosity.

“We’re going to need to come up with a cover story, aren’t we?” Dib slowly began, now making eye contact with the other before him. As he continued to speak his hand drifted from his chin to wave gestures at Zim instead. “You’ve changed too much in appearance for someone to not notice something.”

Zim hummed, however not seeming to be listening all that much anymore. The teen seemed to have lost his attention along the way. The now human seemed to be more interested in his own new body than whatever his enemy had to say about the situation. When Dib realised this, he sighed heavily as he continued to talk, now more to himself than anything.

“What was it you had first told everyone when you arrived to Earth?”

No reply, only Zim concentrating on his fingers as he stretched them out and picked at them for a moment.

“You had a skin condition, correct? Maybe you can say you’re cured now.”

“Uh-huh.” A hand slowly started to comb through his own hair, hesitating for a moment at the feeling, then proceeded to pull on it. A yelp soon left his lips, clearly not expecting something like this. The more he touched it, the more it continued to get messy.

“You did take a few weeks off from school…” Dib was no longer watching the other at this point. He began pacing around the room they were in, mostly blocking out whatever sounds or actions the other was making. “We can use that as an excuse! Getting treatment for this ‘skin condition’ of yours, and you’re all better now!”

Zim lifted up his shirts and made what seemed to be a never ending displeased sound, his tongue sticking out and his eyebrows scrunched up together. He poked his own belly button for a moment, before poking at what he thought was another higher up belly button, only to screech and frustratingly lowered his shirts again, confused what that was.

“Wait, hang on… that explains the skin, but not the ears and nose… hm.” Dib tapped at his chin for a moment and stopped his pacing. Gir soon joined them again, as if nothing happened, however now clutching at the teen’s leg and watching Zim experience his new body.

Hearing about noses and ears caught Zim’s attention, now poking around at his own. He covered one ear as Dib talked, noticing the slight muffle. He then did it to the other ear and continued to take his hands on and off them for a moment. He then brought one hand and gently squeezed down on his nose, only to cough at the fact he couldn’t breath for a moment.

“Oh! I’ve got it!” Dib clicked his fingers for a moment with a small smile on his face. “You had surgery! You’ll have to take a few more weeks off from school though, to make it more believable. Are you alright with that?” His attention was soon back to the other. “Zim?”

By the time Dib was now watching Zim again, the other had pulled back his pants and was looking down at them, making a confused sound for a moment. Dib blinked before letting out a small yelp and rushed to Zim’s side, trying to draw his attention away from that region.

“Z-Zim!”

The teen grabbed at his wrists to pull them back, however resulted in accidentally pressing a button on the wrist watch Zim was wearing, warping him back to his usual alien self. His antennas raised in surprised, an annoyed look on his face as he looked at Dib’s slightly blushed face.

“Hey! I’m exploring!”

“Y-You can do that in your own time!” His response was a little too quick, and soon pulled away from Zim, placing his own hands on his face with a small groan. “Can you just listen to me for a second? I’m trying to help you out here…”

An Irken hand waved in Dib’s direction with a small eye roll. “Yes yes I heard, skin condition cured thanks to the amazing help of the ever growing human science and it’s medicines, Zim heard.”

“And remember to take a few more weeks away from the school. In fact, don’t go outside at all, in case someone from school may see you.” Dib had now placed his hands against the other’s shoulders, giving him a gentle shake to make sure his attention is still there.

A small smirk and a chuckle left Zim’s mouth. “Dib-stink, I haven’t left the base at all, I can handle a few more weeks.”

Dib sighed, frowning. “Right, your ‘depressive episode’…” When he felt confident enough to believe that Zim was listening to him, he dropped his hands away from the other’s shoulders, sighing once more. “You’re a real pain to work with, Zim.”

“Aren’t I just amazing?” Zim responded with a huge smug smile on his face. His smile soon dropped as he made his way over to the couch, taking a seat. He began staring at the watch attacked to his wrist for a moment, his other arm resting against the couch arm rest and leaning his face against his hand. Dib could tell he was thinking about something, however didn’t know what.

He shifted on his feet for a moment as he watched Zim a little longer, now feeling awkward being in the alien’s base with no real reason to stay now. He signed before making his way to the base door, opening it. “Let me know if you make any new adjustments to the watch, and I guess I’ll see you in a few weeks.”

No response was heard so Dib nodded more to himself than anything, and with that, left Zim alone once again. They accomplished a lot today, Dib felt very proud of the process they made. Zim now had a human persona he can easily go to use to blend into the human world, and he must say he was really impressed with how realistic it looked. They also had a cover up story if anyone asked what was going on. Soon enough, they’d go back to their antics like nothing happened. That’s what he’s hoping for, at least.

Dib hadn’t noticed that Zim was watching him as he left, and as the door closed with a soft click of the lock, the alien squinted his eyes a little in displeasure. His mind continued to wonder for a little bit longer as his attention was still in the direct Dib was once at. Gir soon brought his attention back as the unit explained of seeing a different human in the base but suddenly disappeared. Without responding, Zim slowly got up from his seat and made his way into the kitchen, soon disappearing back into his underground base in silence.

That night Dib couldn’t sleep. He wasn’t entirely sure why at first, however his thoughts soon wondered to Zim and his disguise once again. Maybe he was anxious about this plan somehow failing; of Zim somehow messing this up, maybe not even coming back to school at all and was only using him for this device information. Maybe he was anxious about the fact that maybe things won’t go back to normal. How things used to be. Maybe he was anxious that Zim will change too much while he’s staying here. He couldn’t really explain anything he was thinking in that moment, but he knew it was keeping him up at night.

It took a little bit of convincing from himself to say that things will be fine, and if things do change, it’s for the better. He surely hopes that he’s right for once, especially in this situation.


End file.
